We spoke with several of our GFF alumni to find out what they’ve been up to and how they will be spending the holidays. Along with several photos, here’s what they shared…
Maya Benyas
“Happy holidays! I just finished my finals for fall quarter—I am officially no longer a 1st quarter freshman at Stanford! It feels great to be done with work, and I leave Saturday to go back home. I’m excited to be back for a few weeks, mainly just to relax and enjoy some down time before next quarter begins. I’m also very excited for the holiday season, and to hang out with family and friends :)) I’m going to try to make the most of my three weeks of break, since I’m taking a much harder course-load next quarter—math, physics, computer science, and a required “Thinking Matters” course.”
Lauren Fakhoury
“Right now, my most major plan for the holidays is getting through these last weeks of school and finals. After that, though, I’m really looking forward to going home! We don’t usually do much around the holidays, but it’s nice to just be with family and not have to worry too much about school. I know I’ll still end up studying more than I’d like, but hopefully there will be some time for play too! And food, of course—I can’t wait for a break from cafeteria food! Thanks, and happy holidays!”
Longmei Ge
“My family and I really enjoy the holidays! Typically we take advantage of the break from school and travel, but we’ve stayed home lately because of COVID. Our newest at-home holiday traditions include roasting a duck and burning off the calories by playing WII sports and Just Dance, haha. And now that I can drive I’m super excited to spend stress-free time with my friends (and explore some local food). The picture I’ve attached is from this mornings trip to the Iron Whisk in Cobden (10/10 would recommend). Happy Holidays!!”
Ryder Hales
“I wish a nourishing and healthy holiday season to the entire GFF family! It has been a successful but challenging senior year thus far, complete with lots of mountain adventures and fun extracurriculars. I’m having a really hard time believing that I’m about 7/8 of the way through college, but here we are. I’ll be in Boulder until my finals are done next week, at which point I’ll drive back to Carbondale for the holidays (making sure I get in some ski days as well, of course).
I am so so looking forward to this holiday season, as my family will spend a couple of days before Christmas in Chicago to reunite with some very long-time, dear family friends — the first time since COVID that we’ll be visiting these folks in person!!!!
As for Christmas itself, it’ll just be me and my family – parents and dogs/cats – at home, as is fairly typical. In years such as this when we spend Christmas in Illinois, it’s just the nuclear family. However, we have a lot of relatives in Colorado (and none in Illinois), so we used to spend every other Christmas in Fort Collins with my grandparents until they moved to a senior home just a couple years ago. Christmas in Fort Collins has been part of my life as far as I can remember, so the big cross-country holiday road trip is a deeply familiar and beloved custom of mine, especially now that I go to college in Boulder and get to have another iteration of the road trip tradition next week. Happy Holidays!”
Yoonseo Jung
“Usually, towards the holiday seasons, it is that time of the year to fear the dreaded: final exams. Until winter break starts, I am very busy preparing for the exams, as well as preparing for Christmas concerts. Because I play a sheer amount of music, it gets especially busy during the holiday seasons. From playing Christmas cantatas to auditions for the All-State orchestra, my practice schedule can get extremely hectic at times. However, as busy as it gets, I love the feeling of accomplishing something major, so I look forward to immersing myself in my wild schedule!
Besides preparing for exams and music concerts, one of my main goals this year (or should I say, next year?) is to really determine what I enjoy doing. Of course, I know I have great passions for the arts, music, and mathematics, but I would like to go a step further and discover which area/subject I want to truly devote my time on. (I am hoping that after choosing my summer programs, I may be able to narrow it down a bit). Thank you so much and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the year!”
Arkaprabha Kolay
“I am looking forward to Christmas break! After next week of finals, we finally have a nice long break and the end of the 1st semester which feels really good. College application season is over so I’m basically just waiting now hoping to get into my colleges.”
Michelle Wang
“For the holidays, I will probably bake something sweet. In the coming year, I am looking forward to covid having less of an effect on everything (hopefully). I wish the entire GFF family a very happy holiday season!”
Jayla Ware
“Most of my family’s holiday traditions occur on Christmas Eve. We decorate the Christmas tree the night of Christmas Eve and open one wrapped gift and take one gift out of our stockings. My family also does a secret Santa exchange. This year I am grateful for the opportunity to safely spend time with my friends and family. Happy Holidays!”
Thanks for sharing… We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!
